Calm Hearts in a Forgotten Room
by psycho chibbi
Summary: Pulling the pieces back together after an explosive assignment, Heero and Quatre find a few more pieces they had left behind. Memories that refuse to be forgotten. Oneshot.


**Calm Hearts in a Forgotten Room**

_by: a psycho chibi named Wendy_

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own. I borrow.

_Warnings:_ Hints at some shounen ai-ness, hints at violence. Oneshot.

_Pairings:_ Hints at 4x1 or 1x4

_Summary:_ Pulling the pieces back together after an explosive assignment, Heero and Quatre find a few more pieces they had left behind. Memories that refuse to be forgotten.

_Author rant:_ A story I randomly started, then left, then finally finished.

_Note:_ Takes place after the wars, so Heero and Quatre are in their 20's

Enjoy~

_fjfjfjfj_

"We have to get out of here!"

"How_?_! We've been cut off from all our escape routes!"

"Come on! Think! There has to be another way!"

"Shit, there's no time! Get down!"

"What are you doing_?_! Are you crazy_?_!"

"No, I'm desperate! Get down!"

"Heero! Stop! _HEERO!_"

_fjfjfjfj_

The sound of a familiar voice screaming out his name pulled Heero out of a strange darkness he didn't remember falling into. He tried to open his eyes, but felt something covering them. _'What.. What's this..?'_

The first thought that ran through his head was that he had been captured. He attempted to move his arms as inconspicuously as possible in case his captors were around. _'My left arm.. It's free.. But my right.. Feels like it's in a splint..'_ He then focused his attention to his legs. Again, his left seemed unbound and fine, but the moment he attempted to move his right a pain shot up his entire right side. The searing burn made him nearly choke on his own breath as his body tried in vain to pull away from it.

"Heero? Heero, it's okay. Calm down." a quiet voice whispered to him as a cool hand took hold of his left.

Recognizing the voice, Heero gripped as tight as he could to the hand. "Quatre... What happened? Why can't I see?"

"There was an explosion at the warehouse. You've got flash burns on your eyes from being too close. I covered them so you wouldn't hurt yourself when you woke."

It was then Heero noticed the faint throbbing pain in his eyes. He was silent for a moment as he attempted to piece everything together. "Where are we?"

"A condemned house a mile away from the warehouse. We're safe for now."

"And the extremists?"

"Dead. At least the ones at the warehouse. More came after the explosion, but we were far enough away to avoid their detection."

There was a strange lilt in that voice that made Heero want to frown. It sounded exhausted. Broken. "What is the extent of my injuries?"

A thick silence settled in the air for a moment before that strained voice answered. "Dislocated right wrist. First degree burns along the right arm. Gash on left shoulder. Puncture wound on right leg." Quatre listed off in a detached manner.

Not liking how it sounded like the blonde was reading off a list, Heero focused on the last one. "Puncture?"

"A piece of metal shrapnel pierced your right thigh."

Heero couldn't deny it when the burn turned out to be a constant reminder. That left only one question. "Were you injured?"

"... I'm fine."

Not believing that for a moment, Heero released the hand holding his and reached up for whatever was covering his eyes.

"Heero, don't. You shouldn't-"

"Shut it." Heero growled, swatting blindly at the hand trying to stop him. He soon pulled the strip of cloth away and could immediately tell there was some sort of light source, but it was dim. Since his right half seemed to have suffered the most damage, Heero carefully opened his left eye. The stinging was annoying, but tolerable. He was able to focus somewhat on his surroundings, so began looking around.

The room they were in had no windows, and was devoid of any furniture. Shifting slightly let him feel that he was laying on the floor atop a few thin blankets. The light was from an electric lantern resting in the furthest corner from the door. It gave just enough light to see by, but not too much that it would draw attention through any cracks. It was the smartest move. That led the blue eye to move towards the figure sitting beside him.

The moment his eye focused it widened in alarm. "..Blood..?" So much blood. Crimson was smeared across the normally pale face and staining the blond locks. It was saturated in the once white shirt that was torn beyond recognition, which led his gaze to the thick strips of cloth that were wrapped tightly around the horribly bruised left bicep.

A weak frown pulled over the blood stained face. "It's alright, Heero... Most of it isn't mine..."

Hardly comforted by that, Heero did his best to glare with one eye. "Tell me what happened." he demanded as best as he could.

The weary aqua colored gaze looked away to some unknown point as the faintly trembling body slumped back against a crumbling wall. "Not now, Heero... Please..." Quatre begged on a faint whisper.

Heero clenched his teeth tight when he saw the utter torment that was pouring from the blond. He needed to know, but he wasn't in the right state to pursue the issue. Instead let his eye close and simply reached out his left hand. It comforted him to a certain degree when his hand was readily taken and held tight.

"How long have we been here?" he asked after another silent moment.

"About a day. It's around 2 am, I think..."

"Think?"

"That explosion fried all our devices. I think it was that prototype EMF we had heard about. The cross fire must have set something off."

Heero felt himself wincing faintly. "So we have no way to contact Preventers..."

"I'm certain they'll have heard about the explosion. They knew we were in the area. It won't be too long before someone looks for us since we haven't reported in."

For once, Heero was grateful for that forced optimism. He normally found rationalizing things into a lighter situation pointless. But now, he clung onto it. It was all he could do in this state.

"Quatre.. If you're not seriously injured, you should go. Find a way to contact help." Heero grunted through his teeth when another bolt of pain shot through his leg.

"Shut up. I'm not leaving you here." Quatre immediately hissed, gripping tighter to the weakening hand.

Cracking his eye back open, Heero saw that both of Quatre's were shut tight. "Dammit, Quatre, I'll be fine. Just go!"

"I said I'm not leaving you here!" the blond snapped almost viciously.

The forceful tone startled Heero to the point his right eye involuntarily opened. He stared blankly at the way the blond's shoulders were now shaking from a painful tension. "Quatre..."

"Shut up!" The anguished sound that erupted from his own lips seemed to make Quatre jump. His eyes blinked rapidly for some reason as he clutched the Japanese man's hand for dear life. "Just.. Just be quiet and rest..." he managed to say before bowing his head low in what looked to be shame.

The outburst left Heero too shocked to even think of a reply. For a moment all he could do was stare at the shivering figure beside him. _'Something.. Something else must have happened...' _He was lost as to what, but he knew that could wait. Now all that mattered was tending to themselves. That meant getting Quatre to pay attention to himself.

He took in the blood that coated the pale young man and frowned slightly. He couldn't see the extent of Quatre's wounds in that state. "You should clean yourself up..." he pointed out quietly.

Quatre seemed to recoil from the simple statement. His eyes locked on the dried blood smeared on the hand he was using to hold on to Heero's. The sight made the stained face grimace in pain as he quickly released the hand. "I'm sorry..." he whispered while trying to pull away.

Heero reached out before he even decided to. He wrapped his fingers around the retreating wrist and held fast. He was going to wait for the blood shot blue eyes to meet his own, but Quatre refused to look at him. "Quatre.. What is it? What happened?"

Another wince slightly jerked the blond's form. He didn't pull away, but it was obvious that he was struggling to keep still. "Heero... I..." He bit his bruised lower lip before forcing himself to meet the pain riddled gaze. "I got desperate."

On hearing that Heero's eyes widened. That was the last thing he remembered saying to the blond before things went black. For Quatre to say that, he honestly couldn't imagine what could have taken place. It was clear that Quatre didn't want him to know, so he knew it had to be bad.

The dark images that filled his head were roughly pushed aside. They had to focus on now. They had to keep themselves together. "You need to rest, Quatre. At least take off that shirt. That can't be comfortable." he added before releasing the wrist.

Quatre hesitantly looked down at his filthy shirt. The fabric was an ugly reddish brown color, and horribly stiff in some places were the blood had already dried. He knew he should take it off, but that meant revealing something else. However the flat glare that he was under told him that he wasn't going to be able to refuse for much longer.

With a deep breath, Quatre took hold of the hem to his ruined shirt and tugged it off.

Heero thought he had been ready to see a perfectly fine torso, but when he saw the soaked bandages wrapped around the slender body he tried to sit up. "What the hell happened?" he demanded. The makeshift bandages concentrated on the flat stomach just above his navel. A wound in such a vital area had Heero suddenly worried.

Quatre was quick to keep him still. "Dammit, Heero! Stay down! You're going to aggravate your injuries if you move around too much!" he hissed, completely ignoring his own state.

But the Japanese man resisted the efforts. "Tell me what happened, Quatre." he repeated on a growl.

"It's just where a bullet grazed me. It's a flesh wound, I'm fine." Quatre insisted weakly. "Please lie down, Heero..."

Refusing to comply, Heero forced himself through the pain and finally sat up. His breathing grew harsher, but he ignored it to face the Arabian fully. "Where else are you injured?"

He wanted to resist, but seeing the concern that was able to push past the pain in Heero's eyes forced him to answer. "Just... It's nothing... A scratch." he mumbled, his hand lowering to another bandage around his left calf.

On seeing the red stained bandages, Heero know that it was more than a scratch. "You were shot."

"I'm fine, Heero." Quatre continued to insist.

A bland glare formed over his battered face as Heero shifted uncomfortably. "I know you, Quatre. The more you insist you're fine, the worse off you really are." He saw the faint flinch at his words, which only confirmed Heero's suspicions. "What aren't you telling me?"

Quatre rigidly set his jaw for a moment, but when Heero's glare only intensified, he closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Cracked ribs... Sprained right ankle... And a possible concussion."

Now that the string of injuries was out, Heero's brow furrowed deeply. "How much of that was from the explosion?" When Quatre bit his lower lip, Heero's frown deepened. "None of it was... You got of that trying to escape... You were injured trying to protect me."

"I did what I felt was necessary, Heero." Quatre muttered. "Now will you please rest?"

"Not until I understand our situation." Heero grunted flatly.

Knowing this was a futile battle, Quatre heaved a weary sigh and lifted his gaze back to his companion. "What do you want to know?"

"Do we have any supplies?"

"No."

Heero's eyes widened slightly. "No? What about that backpack we had?"

"It's the only thing that kept me from facing the brunt from that explosion. It was trashed. I left it behind." Quatre answered calmly.

"Why haven't you secured any more yet?"

"I wasn't about to leave you until I knew you were stable." Quatre gave a light tug to the blankets that were beneath his companion. "I found some things left over here, but I haven't had time to search the entire house. I was going to do that first before I attempted venturing out."

It made sense, so Heero nodded. "How's the integrity of the house?"

"Stable in this area. I think this was a drug den of some kind years ago. I've noticed a lot of pill bottles and syringes . Everything's coated with dust, so I'm fairly certain no one has been here recently."

The description had a strange smirk twitching onto Heero's lips as he rubbed at his stiff neck. "Kind of reminds you of the days back during the war..."

The comment was unexpected, but it pulled a tired smile to Quatre's face. "Yeah.."

"Just one thing off.."

The blond tilted his head a bit. "What's that..?"

Heero reached out for Quatre and pulled him gently to come closer. "You know."

Blue eyes blinked in confusion for a moment before his smile turned warm. "... What happened to 'what happened in the war stays in the war'..?" he asked on a whisper as he easily moved into Heero's arms.

Though he was injured, it didn't stop Heero from wrapping his arms around the wounded blond. He held on as tight as they both could manage as he let out a deep breath. "... Feeling nostalgic.. You complaining..?"

"Never..." Quatre whispered as he let his head gently rest on Heero's right shoulder.

They held one another silently in the dingy forgotten room. Their unsteady breaths an interesting counterpoint to their calm hearts.

"... When should I start trying to contact the others..?" Quatre finally asked even though his arms held on a bit tighter.

Heero was silent a moment longer before he turned his head to bury his face into the golden hair. Smoke, gunpowder, blood, and a sweet scent that never seemed to be absent from the Arabian. It brought back so many memories. "... Later..." he finally mumbled.

The simple answer made Quatre smile.

He wasn't finished remembering either.

_fjfjfjfjThe Endfjfjfjfj_

Short, but sweet.

Later~


End file.
